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Too often we’re giving teams a huge gap between the tackle and guard on the left side. There’s been success on other runs too, but that one is the most glaring to me. Yes, Preston could spin back inside or something, but I can’t put it on him because he’s trying to pass rush and get the edge on the tackle and he’s maintaining the outside (usually). What I can’t decide is whether our DT needs to be filling that gap (crashing to the offense’s left, or (more likely), someone isn’t coming forward and filling that gap... not successfully at least.
IMO, against backs like Barkley, Elliot, etc., our backers are playing run first and coming downhill in a hurry. Facing a better passer/passing offense (vs the better running teams), our secondary needs extra help, and so our backers are therefore reacting a bit later to the run. This gives blockers more time to get to them... and Foster and Brown don’t excel at stacking and shedding. Compounding this issue (I think), our corners on that side aren’t making enough of an impact vs the run, and both safeties are playing back (again, to help in the secondary). So we see runners either untouched for several yards, or met by diving arm tackles by Foster. Their next contact point is usually seems to be a safety closer to 10 yds past the LOS.
I don't know the fix to this, but one thing I’d try - have Foster move a yard to the outside (maybe just when Swearinger is playing deep?). Like I said, I don’t know - just spitballing.

I’m proud of the way the team played. Like, really, really proud. I thought the Texan’s dline was gonna have a field day and that we would be lucky to score.
The one negative that really stood out to me was that dropped pass by Vernon Davis. The rest of the issues are/were, IMO, mostly nitpicking considering the way this team ‘fought their guts out’.
Turkey Day game just got even more intriguing...
Sidenote - I picked Dallas to beat the Falcons and I’m pretty bummed it played out that way.

I thought for sure they’d call it. Probably because it wasn’t a bigger name qb...
With the oline injuries, I think there’s a better chance they take a step back instead... but here’s hoping you’re right.

Yep. Kinda hard to say anything bad about him as a receiver... but hard to say anything good either. I thought (and expected) he would serve a Logan Paulsen/Mike Seller type of role - mostly blocking, but with a couple or few looks per game.
Bottom line though - at this point, we can’t go into next season with him as the #1 or even 2 TE. Well... maybe penciled in at number 2 with a promising prospect behind him (if we lose/get rid of either Davis or Reed and draft a guy).

I think Perine’s biggest issues are fumbles, comfort in the system and getting tripped up. The first two are (theoretically) fixable. Maybe vision is an issue as well, though I’d like to see him with a workload, after learning the system for a year + before landing there. Especially given the number of times he picked up more yards than I expected on given plays last year. He would be surrounded by guys and then squeeze out the other side for a few more yards. Of course, one of those guys would usually trip him up, so he wasn’t breaking big runs, but rather turning 2 into 6, or 5 into 10 (or whatever). I believe it’s not so much Perine goes down easily, but that his forward lean makes it harder to keep his footing if someone gets a hand on his feet/legs.
System-wise, the tough part part about our run game is how multiple it is. You need to be patient on some runs and decisive/quick to the hole on others. This stresses defenses, but I think it also generally makes it a bit tougher for a back to get comfortable in the scheme. To be more exact, it makes it tougher for a back that is used to running pure zone (like Perine), or pure man/power. I don’t know if that changes when we bring in oline street FAs, because I have to assume it’s tough (or even tougher) on them as well. I thought Perine showed some improvement on this front last year. He picked up some 8-12 yarders by exploding through the hole later in the year, which was refreshing to see.

Domestic abuse is a big one, IMO. Certainly not a complete fix, and I don’t know how to address it. I’d think police unions would get behind that and a database, which appeals to the “law and order” crowd. Allowing the ATF to digitize records and putting (a lot) more resources (back) to looking at white supremacists are checks in my book too. Again, won’t fix things, but they seem like solid steps in the right direction.
I’m no expert on the issue of course... not even the keyboard kind.

Yeah, I think Sprinkle is a fine TE to have, especially if we’re going to be a run oriented team. He’ll have a place here regardless (whether it’s as a number 2 or 3) going forward. However, and no offense to him, but I see him with a ceiling of an average, at best, pass catcher. So I don’t blame you for bringing him up, but he doesn’t fit my calculus of a pass catching weapon that Smith could use in the future.

Given how successful we were in getting sacks last year compared to this year, I find myself wondering what the difference is (can’t be all about Galette). So I’m thinking some combo of the following: 1) we sold out the run D to focus more on pass pressure, 2) Manusky has tweaked the scheme/responsibilities to focus more on contain for the OLBs, 3) our corners are worse (and/or Manusky is scheming like they are - playing them off more) and so qbs are getting rid of the ball quicker.
So, in terms of what positions to add/address, I’d see what McKinzy offers these last games (although he may be inactive with McPhee suiting up), because we could re-sign McPhee, roll with those 4 and probably not have much of a drop off. The reason to do that, IMO, is that while I love the idea of adding a rusher, we might need a corner more, we certainly need help at oline, and we could really, really use a weapon in the pass game.
I’d consider TE a pretty high priority as well - we’ve gotten lucky with good health there this year, but Davis is old, Reed is injury prone (and hasn’t quite looked like his old self), Smith really needs a good TE/security blanket, and they often take time to develop.
Semi sidenote, I think SDH is going to be a player for us.
Anyway, BPA with focus on oline, but I’m looking hard at corner, TE, Wr, OLB and a qb to groom.